A Natural Year follows writer Wendyl Nissen's life in the peaceful New Zealand countryside over one year. It's the story of what happens in her garden, her kitchen and her life over twelve months, and the thoughts inspired by each passing season. She writes about the freedom that... she has found in ageing and the joy that comes along with it. She addresses her depression, anxiety and the mental well-being she's gained from her back-to-basics lifestyle and the practical things she does to live in a sustainable, natural way. With photographs taken at her home in Northland, Wendyl shares 100 new recipes, including how to make yeast from grapes, yoghurt using chilli stalks and many others she has discovered. In a world which can be full of stress and confusion, A Natural Year is a guide to a simpler, less complicated life.Read more

Funny, honest, confronting, wise, this is a compelling and bitter-sweet true story of breaking up and breaking through. 'I hear you're divorced?' a friend greets me. 'Congratulations!' The Divorce Diaries outlines the difficult and often heart-breaking process of leaving a marria...ge and beginning again. Sarah Quigley has garnered numerous accolades, including Column of the Year in the MPA Awards, for her magazine articles on the subject. Now she revisits the tumultuous months leading up to exiting her marriage - and the equally confusing emotions that follow. Living in a tiny rooftop apartment, surrounded by glossy millionaire neighbours. Overcoming grief, guilt and regret, while learning to enjoy being alone again. Taking the first tentative steps into a changed world of dating. Quigley shares both her darkest and most hilarious moments as a divorcee, all played out against the colourful bohemian backdrop of her adopted city, Berlin. Ultimately, this book traces rediscovering a belief in love.Read more

Aro-takaro are the 'face' of traditional Maori games. They are the iconic implements associated with indigenous games practices, rituals and protocols. A testament to their prolific ancient uses are the numerous games artefacts, vividly etched in millennia-old cave paintings, all... over Aotearoa/NZ.
Aro-takaro were spiritually conceived from the environment by villagers and perfected as social and educational tools by tohunga, the intellectual giants of the day, known as Hohou-Rongo - revered games artisans and peace-makers. The Hohou-Rongo utilised aro-takaro as mechanisms for peace, enjoyment, social bonding and in education to make their tribespeople resilient and adaptive.
Each of the 100 aro-takaro within this volume is illustrated, has a description of the materials it is made from and activities that it is synonymous with. The reader will immediately be able to visit their sacred forests, and with due reverence, identify resources with which to make aro-takaro. These artefacts are as diverse as parahirahi (games sandals) & pikipotae (peace headdresses), equipment for hakura & matamatarongo protocols ( peace dances) and ki (balls), pona (knots) and perepere (games pieces). Here then is a cultural resource which can link educationalists with some of the aro-takaro technologies, conservation practices and beliefs of our forebears.Read more

The New Zealand All Blacks are one of the most recognisable and formidable teams on the world sporting stage. They are the record setters, the keepers of tradition, and the icons of the game of Rugby Union. They have been the benchmark for skill and execution ever since the oval ...shaped ball first arrived on New Zealand's shores, and are a team the rest of the world aspire to beat. They also hold the most victories of any Test nation, and the best win percentage overall, and can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder alongside some of the greatest sporting teams in the world of any code.Much has been written about the All Blacks and their legacy, but in this one book you get the full picture the Tests, the players, the results and the history - recollecting those memorable moments and marvelling at the exploits of some of world-famous All Blacks. From the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, when it was still an amateur game, through to their record-breaking exploits in 2016 at the height of professionalism, the All Blacks have enjoyed one of the highest levels of sporting success in the world. But the modern era is not the whole story.The New Zealand Rugby Companion fills in the essential gaps, provides the historic context and completes the total picture for all rugby lovers. Up to including the 2019.Read more

When Thomas the Tank Engine sees a vintage plane flying over he is fascinated and follows it all the way to the airfield. There he meets many wonderful planes and learns all about the part they played in the war. Thomas wishes he could be a hero too. Then when one of the planes c...rash lands in a pond it's time for Thomas to come to the rescue. Perhaps he can be a hero after all.Read more

This special book-format issue of Birds New Zealands journal Notornis is devoted to the birds of the Auckland Islands Maukahuka/Motu Maha, the largest and biologically most diverse island group in the New Zealand subantarctic region. Its 19 chapters, written by leading ornitholog...ists, cover a wide range of topics, including the history of ornithological discovery, biogeography, the impacts of introduced mammals and people, prehistoric bird communities based on bone assemblages, and population, ecological and genetic studies of several of the endemic or otherwise notable birds of the island group including Auckland Island snipe, white-headed petrel, and several albatross species.Read more